2020 Round 1 Line up

[NSW stables]

Burgess had a shoulder recon in 2018 ... Same shoulder that Souths now claim may force him to medically retire

They are trying to argue that it was the "infection" from his more recent surgery which has caused the irrepairable structural damage in his shoulder.

I know they reported he had an infection but i didnt think it was osteomyelitis (which may have caused some degenerative changes in the bones).

These medical retirements are a very slippery slope. Other than them being souths and NRL darlings, i dont know how GI satisfied the med retirement requirements, he had pre-existing knee issues for years.

 

[Sirlee oldman]

We seem to have a lot of backs at the moment (not including halves).
Isaako, Oates, Staggs, Bird, Farnworth, Arthars, Shibasaki, Boyd, Perese, Coates and Niu. Not sure if we still have Kennar as well.

 

[NSW stables]

We seem to have a lot of backs at the moment (not including halves).
Isaako, Oates, Staggs, Bird, Farnworth, Arthars, Shibasaki, Boyd, Perese, Coates and Niu. Not sure if we still have Kennar as well.

The concern is the majority of the outside backs we do have primarily have less than 50+ nrl games.

 

[tommy]

How many years to go on the Burgess contract? I read he just couldn't have surgery on it for a year because of the infection. But if he still has 2 or more years to go they shouldn't have a leg to stand on.

 

[Sirlee oldman]

The concern is the majority of the outside backs we do have primarily have less than 50+ nrl games.

Yes there’s talent but not much experience for sure. The balance of the squad seems a bit off as well. I counted Milford as a half and apart from him we only seem to have Dearden and Paix. If we get Croft that will still leave us a bit skinny in the halves/bench utility even though we will have used 15 of the 30 man squad on backs. I would have assumed that we would want more forwards than backs in the squad to cover for injuries and origin.

 

[winslow_wong]

Honestly, the whole medical retirement thing is starting to become a bit of a circus.

Clubs will start taking out their own veterans to free up funds.

 

[Kooly87]

Yes there’s talent but not much experience for sure. The balance of the squad seems a bit off as well. I counted Milford as a half and apart from him we only seem to have Dearden and Paix. If we get Croft that will still leave us a bit skinny in the halves/bench utility even though we will have used 15 of the 30 man squad on backs. I would have assumed that we would want more forwards than backs in the squad to cover for injuries and origin.

To be honest two starting Halves (Croft and Milford) and two backup or development Halves (Dearden and Paix) seems about right to me. We also have O'Sullivan on our books to who I think you're forgetting but granted, he wont be back for quite a while.

We aren't likely to carry a Half on the Bench (I certainly hope not anyway) so our Utility position will likely be Macca or an outside Back which is usually what the Coach prefers.

You could argue that we might have more Halves, but honestly, what decent Half out there is going to want to be the 5th or 6th string Half at any club?

 

[BroncsFan]

They are trying to argue that it was the "infection" from his more recent surgery which has caused the irrepairable structural damage in his shoulder.

I know they reported he had an infection but i didnt think it was osteomyelitis (which may have caused some degenerative changes in the bones).

These medical retirements are a very slippery slope. Other than them being souths and NRL darlings, i dont know how GI satisfied the med retirement requirements, he had pre-existing knee issues for years.

GI walked away from his contract (ie. no payout), but was given a $300k pa job with souths... the $300k sits under Souths salary cap.

Burgess is looking for a payout of his remaining 3 years due to medical retirement, which is about $3.6m that won't fall under the cap.

JYY retired due to medical issues and was paid out his contract.

 

[Super Freak]

Gillett expected to announce his retirement tomorrow.

That would free up the funds for Croft, so I would imagine he will be signed within the next month.

 

[tommy]

GI walked away from his contract (ie. no payout), but was given a $300k pa job with souths... the $300k sits under Souths salary cap.

Burgess is looking for a payout of his remaining 3 years due to medical retirement, which is about $3.6m that won't fall under the cap.

JYY retired due to medical issues and was paid out his contract.

So how is it above board if he has 3 years left? From what I was reading the infection means he has to wait a year before he can have surgery.

 

[Kooly87]

GI walked away from his contract (ie. no payout), but was given a $300k pa job with souths... the $300k sits under Souths salary cap.

Burgess is looking for a payout of his remaining 3 years due to medical retirement, which is about $3.6m that won't fall under the cap.

JYY retired due to medical issues and was paid out his contract.

$3.6 million bucks as a payout. Ouch...

Even if it doesn't fall under the salary cap, it's going to hurt the balance sheet. Lucky for Souths they've got plenty of cash but other clubs would seriously feel the pain for something like that. I wonder if clubs will think about that when they're signing guys up to 5 and 10 year deals at a million bucks a year. I know freak medical retirements are rare for younger guys but the risk is still there.

 

[Morepudding]

This is interesting.....

In the case of Gillett, if what the NRL physio is saying is correct, then we wouldn't qualify.

Gillett was signed and upgraded while being sidelined with a broken neck.

So if this is in fact the rule, how the actual **** did Souths get away with retiring Inglis then?! View attachment 6510

Broncos are trying to retire Gillett on his shoulder, not his back.

 

[BroncsFan]

So how is it above board if he has 3 years left? From what I was reading the infection means he has to wait a year before he can have surgery.

My post was in reply to how this was different to GI.

I'm not a doctor and don't know the finer points of what is happening with Burgess, but if bunnies are trying to medically retire someone when in reality they are just injured for a season then that shouldn't be grounds for a payout.

I believe someone posted the actual clauses for a medical retirement earlier in this thread and it indicated something along the lines of a player not being able to play professionally for the rest of their life. If surgery could resolve the issue and he has to wait 12 months then that probably falls under that clause and should not be entitled to a payout.

But there should also be consideration on the players health after football, because a player can keep getting surgery to hold themselves together and play professionally but it may come at the detriment of their long term health... it shouldn't be up to the NRL saying nah keep getting surgery or don't get paid.

Maybe the RLPA should be involved here as their obligations should be to the player rather than the team and NRL looking out for themselves.

I think there is also insurance involved if a player is medically retired due to an injury sustained whilst playing football. Can remember that popping up with Watmough or Matai??

 

[Bongo]

This is interesting.....

In the case of Gillett, if what the NRL physio is saying is correct, then we wouldn't qualify.

Gillett was signed and upgraded while being sidelined with a broken neck.

So if this is in fact the rule, how the actual **** did Souths get away with retiring Inglis then?! View attachment 6510

It might be due to his mental health

 

[Xzei]

Idk his mental health and shoulder looked in good condition with that chick on it in Mexico...

 

[mitch222]

GI walked away from his contract (ie. no payout), but was given a $300k pa job with souths... the $300k sits under Souths salary cap.

Burgess is looking for a payout of his remaining 3 years due to medical retirement, which is about $3.6m that won't fall under the cap.

JYY retired due to medical issues and was paid out his contract.

JYYs payout was included in our cap for the remaining years on his contract. This was before the salary cap relief exemption was in place. The first person to have a crack at the NRLs retirement exemption was Watmough and the Eels who were unsuccessful

 

[Sirlee oldman]

To be honest two starting Halves (Croft and Milford) and two backup or development Halves (Dearden and Paix) seems about right to me. We also have O'Sullivan on our books to who I think you're forgetting but granted, he wont be back for quite a while.

We aren't likely to carry a Half on the Bench (I certainly hope not anyway) so our Utility position will likely be Macca or an outside Back which is usually what the Coach prefers.

You could argue that we might have more Halves, but honestly, what decent Half out there is going to want to be the 5th or 6th string Half at any club?

True. I forgot SOS.

 

[Kooly87]

My post was in reply to how this was different to GI.

I'm not a doctor and don't know the finer points of what is happening with Burgess, but if bunnies are trying to medically retire someone when in reality they are just injured for a season then that shouldn't be grounds for a payout.

I believe someone posted the actual clauses for a medical retirement earlier in this thread and it indicated something along the lines of a player not being able to play professionally for the rest of their life. If surgery could resolve the issue and he has to wait 12 months then that probably falls under that clause and should not be entitled to a payout.

But there should also be consideration on the players health after football, because a player can keep getting surgery to hold themselves together and play professionally but it may come at the detriment of their long term health... it shouldn't be up to the NRL saying nah keep getting surgery or don't get paid.

Maybe the RLPA should be involved here as their obligations should be to the player rather than the team and NRL looking out for themselves.

I think there is also insurance involved if a player is medically retired due to an injury sustained whilst playing football. Can remember that popping up with Watmough or Matai??

Think you've hit the nail on the head. Huge grey area around 'not playing ever again' because realistically at his age, waiting 12 months for surgery and then recovery, there may well be grounds to say he won't be fit to play again.

Organisations in this instance tend to defer to the path that leaves them least at risk of litigation, which in this instance is probably to err on the side of caution and grant him an early retirement and not risk a lawsuit later if he re-injures himself and potentially takes them to court. It's Souths who have to foot the actual bill and they're the ones willing it to happen so I don't see the NRL not going with that and granting them what they all want.